Army of the Dead reviewed by Mark Kermode.

[@davidmitchell-baker1701]

"'It's Zack Snyder having fun!' - I didn't have any fun watching it" - Kermode's relationship with Zack Snyder movie summed up

[@themadafaka6839]

I felt the same way too I didn't have as much fun watching this as I had expected to have like I did with his Dawn of the Dead remake. Snyder's sense of storytelling is just so bad.

[@justemrys]

I think it perfectly sums up everybody's relationship with Zack Snyder

[@justemrys]

@@digontozahid I guess but it's weird because I've never met anyone who likes Zack Snyder films but he is always trending on twitter 🤷‍♂️

[@rob5541]

So accurate

[@dws0828]

No James Gunn on the screenplay unlike the Dawn of the Dead remake. Maybe he’s the fun guy

[@glynkhughes]

Thought it was utter trash. Vapid, boring, clichéd, terribly scripted. It's a shame as I think Dave Bautista is a good leading man/action hero type.

[@maximmulholland]

I agreed with everything bar your last point. I think Dave is dreadful as a leading man: he's so limited. Stay in your lane Dave: stick to looking mean, saying very little, and remaining in the background!

[@skittles074]

I like Batista but the supposed emotional scenes in this film with his daughter were horrendous...

[@randyschwaggins]

I agree on Bautista...hes got real screen presence. I also liked the girl who played the Coyote...reminded me of a younger Tea Leoni

[@ZeppelinBigFan]

Batista is funny, he should do action comedy. Films like Stuber and My Spy aren't exactly great, but they're definitely watchable, mostly because of Dave being in them. Anyone with his physique and looks can play in a film like Army of the Dead, it's a waste of his talent in my opinion. A film like this makes him look like a less charismatic The Rock, but I find Batista's screen presence more entertaining than Dwayne's in the right films.

[@steeleye2112]

Yeah, terrible script, half developed ideas, awful dialogue, all style and no substance.

[@Halfulll]

Zack Snyder is the Instagram filter of directors

[@CinemaMack]

He's Michael Bay with a bad case of denial.

[@farid1406]

He's Michael bay with a good heart and sad lack of self-awareness

[@ianloasby3833]

News flash: Kermode not a Snyder fan!

[@TheInevercomment]

It is actually rubbish though

[@rpjc1]

@@ydcee3123 precisely. You can predict exactly what he's going to say.

[@clavius8182]

@@ydcee3123 - what the hell is he supposed to do though? Snyder can make films that look nice, but he can't write; his films are bloated and narratively boring. in what universe did this film have any business being TWO AND HALF HOURS LONG?

[@alamunez]

Honestly, who is?

[@rpjc1]

@@jimjam7928 I watched the first half last night and enjoyed it. Will finish it this eve

[@danwarrington2450]

Most interesting part of movie was the "foreshadowing" early on of desicated zombies reanimating in the rain. Endured the rest of the movie waiting for this to provide some genuine interest in the third act. You know, on the brink of safety it starts raining and slowly a million zombies start coming back to life. Turned out to be a throw away line with no pay off or purpose. Why write that line if you aren't going to use it? Instead we got civilians with infinite ammo getting head shots every time and a mcguffin character that was completely forgotten about once they boarded the helicopter. Did I miss her falling out whilst I was checking my phone or something? I could overlook the plot contrivances, bizarre decisions of the characters (particularly the human villain) and bloated run time if the ending had landed, but it crashed into the desert harder than that helicopter.

[@heilong79]

That is the thing with expanded media, there is set up that will not be payed off in the actually film but in an animated film or a prequel.

[@DaveyMulholland]

Me too

[@cianbroderick4145]

Chris McEvoy it’s a very complete film. What?

[@johncadden202]

It basically cherry picked scenes from Aliens and added Zombies

[@JimElford]

"I didn't have any fun watching it" is a very gentlemanly put down. NICE.

[@FrozenSurf]

I watched it for big Dave Batista. I like him. Other than that it was dull, the attempts at humour were poorly timed, plot lines didn’t get tied off, was too long, and was very predictable and It made me feel like I was stupid by over explaining obvious parts. Big Dave Batista got a decent pay day though so that’s good.

[@jameslyddall]

I’m a big Dave fan boy. I met him in a function (if he reads this he wouldn’t remember) and he’s one of the nicest gentleman ever. When you hear of actors who can be creepy or whatever I can happily say he was such a class act. Massive presence in the room and I went to the tailor he used for spectre and got a 3 piece suit he wore.

[@WhiteGoldSynesthesia]

Wait, there were attempts at humour?! Are you sure? 🤔

[@FrozenSurf]

@@WhiteGoldSynesthesia yeah, small ones. The elevator music bit for example.

[@carrottoponcrak]

@@FrozenSurf I laughed the whole movie lol it was definitely Zack's funniest movie

[@FrozenSurf]

@@carrottoponcrak well that makes one of ya

[@ClichéGuevara-2814]

Problem with Snyder films is that there are no small moments, which consequently means there are no big moments.

[@philcorrigan5641]

I think Snyder has now become a religious cult rather than a filmmaker. If you aren’t a true believer, all the hype seems baffling, but his hardcore fans will adore everything he does 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@gooner9038]

Nicely put!

[@ClichéGuevara-2814]

@GiRayne Perhaps a re-viewing is in order.

[@thestray]

@GiRayne the problem with those moments to me is that they're shallow, they have the trappings of a beautiful moment without the substance of one. Beautifully shot but all we learn about the Jonathan Kent scenes is that he was a sociopath, lol, the whole point of Ma and Pa Kent is that they raised Clark to be a good person with a strong moral foundation, but in the movie he literally tells his son he should've let a bus full of children die, it makes Clarks character and the whole movie make no sense thematically. "This symbol means hope", but the story in no way exemplifies why this character is hopeful. It's just weird, lol.

[@thestray]

This movie has plenty of small moments actually, they're just not very good.

[@Skiltonius]

Completely agree, this film was just a series of meaningless moments happening to people I had no reason to care about in any way, the plotting was terrible and it was a slog to sit through it. It's a shame because the Dawn of the Dead remake is one of my favourite zombie films.

[@noticeddamian]

I didn’t think it was possible to fall asleep to a movie where the zombies run fast,but this movie managed it.

[@There_Will_Be_Bond]

It’s a pretty unwatchable flick, the annoying in-out focus technique becomes grating after five minutes. The concept is cool, the execution entirely perfunctory. I like World War Z more with every passing and barely passable zombie flick.

[@farid1406]

Me and my friend said basically the same thing watching it. I own the Canon Dream Lens, and absolutely adore bokeh as much as anyone, but this became annoying 30 seconds in and even beyond that, served absolutely NO story purpose at all.

[@Ahmedali323]

world war z was utterly shit. this was a superior work in terms of direction, pacing. the opening title sequence alone is so well done.

[@MrBeau101]

So far as big action blockbusters go, World War Z is actually a brilliant film

[@unclenogbad1509]

Agree. Since seeing this, WWZ seems like zombie golden age. And it wasn't all that great.

[@wilyc0y0te]

It was indeed a blatant Aliens rip-off (or homage, if you’re being generous) in large parts. Didn’t they even lift one of the classic lines from that film? “You don’t see them f***ing each other over...”.

[@vincevirtua]

Being an Aliens homage isn’t bad in itself. Everything is inspired by something else, it’s how they use it and how the movie works as a whole.

[@MrMisanthrope84]

Also the mole double agent screwing over the cast by locking them behind doors and getting them killed on purpose, before being taken out by a monster. Also the defeated soldier setting off the bomb as the monsters attack. Its all been done.

[@hopeysmoke]

@@MrMisanthrope84 and done so much better. I was seriously excited to watch this film - utter garbage.

[@hopeysmoke]

Aliens and Escape From New York

[@pnixon9000]

Just substitute the alien queen for a zombie in a spartan costume and the ending is indistinguishable with Aliens even down to the helicopter disappearing and then reappearing!

[@alivecertified]

An hour into the film I disliked all characters and was incredibly bored about 20 minutes left to go and nothing has changed, it has no substance and just isn't that entertaining to watch it's just...boring.

[@mattd1659]

Will watch it because Dave Bautista is in it and he’s an enjoyable and often underated screen presence

[@CapraDemon101]

Bautista is quite a convincing actor in the right role. Thinking back to his small part in Bladerunner 2049. That being said, I found this movie to be awful.

[@rob5541]

Snyder takes all the fun out of his performance

[@BlueDemon77]

@@CapraDemon101 I just finished watching it. I found it quite boring, I started watching it last night and stopped 10 -15 mins before the end; I just couldn't get through those last minutes. The whole Alpha zombie thing should have been scrubbed from the film, which would have made it a little tighter and less silly. Bautista is surprisingly good, I think, he'll never win an Oscar, but yeah, good in the right role for sure.

[@nicolajohnson1887]

Seriously don't bother.

[@MarcDize]

Cant agree more. Dave is so committed to be a very very competent actor and that's why he will be so great.

[@margotk538]

It’s an average zombie film. I prefer zombie films like “Train to Busan”, where it feels very realistic and got you worried about a zombie apocalypse. Or “Shaun of the dead” a clever zombie parody. This one has a lot of cliches, a good concept, but very predictable.

[@faves2064]

Train to Busan is and excellent example of a great modern zombie flick. Much better than the Girl With All the Gifts

[@henryglennon3864]

How long would it take to move 200 million in physical bills from a burried vault and into a truck? It's got to be some time, surely.

[@lordsofkoble]

Well they have 20 minutes.

[@dsmyify]

The money wasn't the goal.

[@Fandadmenace]

6 days

[@edwardtandy9613]

Aparrantly that much cash minimum weighs 4,500 pounds, so a bloody long time. More importantly how did a zombie on a roof 100+ floors up get down, find a fkn horse and beat a helicopter across the city? Absolute trash of a film.

[@nick1635]

I was also wondering how they were going to move that many people and that much money in a little chopper when they needed a chinook, but by then there were so many plot holes and unused Chekovs guns that I had given up.

[@simonhaslam]

I liked ‘The girl with all the gifts’ but the problem was nobody went to see it, so it’s unlikely a film-maker is going to try something similar anytime soon.

[@quarantees8736]

The worst thing was the constant screeching, gurning & over acting of the top zombies. It happened so often it ceased to have any effect other than irritation. The 2nd worst was 2.5 hours. It would’ve been twice as good at 100 minutes instead. 5/10, could’ve been 7/10 with someone saying no to Snyder’s sillier ideas.

[@monro2159]

The Girl With All The Gifts was a fantastic movie. Certainly the most original zombie movie for many years. It totally re-worked the zombie genre. It should get much more attention.

[@StryveUK]

"Zombie movies eat parts of other zombie movies". Also, adore ROTLD3 getting a shout out.

[@GregBreden]

Just when I'm rolling my eyes at his intransigent anti Snyderousness he goes and does that and I think, alright Mark I forgive you. He knows good zombie when he sees it but is often a bit indignant and pompous when he takes a dislike to something as if they made the film to personally upset and disappoint him, which makes me laugh. I enjoy what he says even when I disagree with him because he's a very eloquent slagger-offinator.

[@johncadden202]

Re watched it a few weeks ago. The special affects are amazing.

[@GregBreden]

@@johncadden202 Yeh it was great when it came out but since it got a director's cut on Blu Ray it's even better. So under rated and now with icing on top, it really holds up. I love Bride of Reanimator and Society a lot but to my tastes ROTLD3 is Brian Yuzna's best turn as director.

[@nathanstevens5682]

The problem with Zack Synder Films is that they usually start well and then finish bad. It's like he tries to sprint a marathon and then quickly runs out of steam which causes him to stumble to the finish line.

[@TomWright91]

The out of focus shots that constantly seemed to happen, in scenes that just did not require it. Zach needs to be put on a leach. It was a 2 hour film, maybe less, stretched over 2.5 hours.

[@ifstatementifstatement2704]

And he seems to be obsessed with showing action scenes in slow motion with music playing over. It was annoying in his cut of the Justice League and it’s even more annoying in this movie.

[@NotThatOneThisOne]

They did that to merge in Tig Notaro, who was added to the film later and was never with the original actors.

[@paulodetarso2562]

The girl with all the gifts is awesome. The book is even better.

[@TheIroningSheik]

good little movie that was

[@MDoddio]

"Bunch of stuff happening on the surface, nothing else." = Every Zack Synder film.

[@fakeigniz13]

Every time it stopped to have a talky moment I just wanted it to get on with it. Plot is nonsense and things just go wrong because of course they do. Aggressively pedestrian

[@markw.loughton6786]

I enjoyed "The girl with all the gifts" although it's derivative of "The last of us." Which was in production 5 years prior to The girl with all the gifts being written. Videogames are where the innovation is regarding the zombie genre now.

[@Elle-xf8mw]

The girl with all the gifts was good, This movie was utter trash.

[@markw.loughton6786]

@@Elle-xf8mw I didn't say I liked "Army of the dead." I thought it was terrible.

[@Elle-xf8mw]

@@markw.loughton6786 I know 🙂

[@sambam007]

2004 dawn of the dead was way better, I preferred the character development of that movie. This movie had a tiger zombie …. Which was nice

[@captainmercy87]

Girl with all the Gifts is amazing. One of the best zombie movies ever made.

[@philcorrigan5641]

I just can’t believe how they managed to make Stoke-on-Trent city centre look like a post-apocalyptic wasteland... 👀

[@captainmercy87]

@@skepticalbadger I have no idea what it means. Great zombie movies like the Romero ones are exciting, fun, horrifying and smart. Girl with all the Gits checks those boxes. But I don’t know the obviously ridiculous credentials you have set for yourself on “zombie movie aficionados” which apparently the movie does not meet. But sure, continue with the gate keeping.

[@SherHerbert]

@@philcorrigan5641 😁

[@starwarsroo2448]

Planet Terror is one of my favourite zombie movies

[@harrytaylor20]

When is Mark going to be back in the studio?

[@themetacrisis]

One of the best film critics in the world and they can't get him a decent webcam or internet connection.

[@frankmerker630]

Kermode lives in a society

[@kermodeandmayo]

He lives in a rural area of the UK with very poor internet connectivity. It’s not his ‘webcam’

[@BenM.Davies]

Unless you're in a city or big town, the UK is still running on quite old tech, so a lot of places don't have fibre or anything like that, but are still running on old copper cables that weren't actually designed for the bandwidth needed a lot of the time today.

[@alamunez]

@@venicebeachsportsnetwork6677 You’re talking about people whose majority voted to isolate themselves from any economic or otherwise globally influential pact, plummeting into an abyss of misery with no real hope for improvement anytime soon. I think planning for the future is not really the UK’s strong point. :)

[@reppe]

If you watch the end-credits you can see that Alan Partridge was the music supervisor for this movie. Had no idea! Sunday... bloody sunday!

[@puma8242]

We've had 10 years of Walking Dead. Did we really need another generic zombie movie?

[@TheMrKlump]

It wasn't a very good film but I wouldn't call it a generic zombie movie, I thought it did quite a lot to stick out from other zombie stuff.

[@BlueDemon77]

The Battery is one of the best contemporary zombie films in my opinion.

[@phiakate]

Isn't this the same premise as Peninsula?

[@hulakan]

Girl with all the Gifts was one of those few movies that is better than the novel on which it was based.

[@Cinephileofmany]

Where can I watch it?

[@cameronmckelvie81]

Low bar, but kickass 2 is the same for me, I hated that comic but found the film passable

[@Hortster]

@@Cinephileofmany HBO Max

[@mshara1]

Kermode: I'm not a Snyder Fan Audience: Neither are we.

[@petawest6505]

Mark is the best film critic in the world in my opinion and I think Watchmen was possibly the greatest superhero film ever made. It's certainly the most impactful since Superman: The Movie. It confounds me that that film isn't venerated. Snyder did the undoable and I hope future audiences appreciate it more. I loved Snyder's Dawn of the Dead too. He's a great visual artist, his problem is he's a hybrid of depth and Bay-esque obsessions, cool slo-mo and knife gore in Zack's case. He goes way overboard with slo-mo, obviously because he think's it's 'cool'. He has an 'intellectual Chad' vibe about him. Saying that, he knows how to make a decent film when he's left the hell alone by WB, and let's not forget it was Nolan who championed him in the early days. Kermode just doesn't like Zack for some reason.

[@elfsieben1450]

@@petawest6505 Snyder is a cheap copycat, basically what you get when you order Nolan on Wish. Nothing original about him.

[@petawest6505]

@@elfsieben1450 He's really nothing like Nolan. At all. He has a clear fascination with Kubrick and Scorsese, most evident in Watchmen. His films are influenced by the right directors, his passion for visuals is A1 and he's got the thumbprint of a seasoned artist. The buzz on him was gigantic when he dropped his first movie. The level of control he has had exerted on him after Watchmen failed to make a billion dollars has been ludicrous though and B v S was a disaster. None of the DCEU films felt like Zack Snyder movies, they were clearly dissected to all hell. Lars Von Trier is my favorite modern filmmaker, so it's not like I'm trying to put Snyder in a box other than where he belongs, but he has art house sensibility and the ability to make real cinema when left alone. Maybe I'm a deluded fanboy, but Warner's screwed that guy and his wife hard. Just leave artists the hell alone.

[@examiningkubrickphilosofia1530]

It got 70 million views

[@willienelsongonzalez4609]

I loved the idea of “The Army of The Dead” but sadly the character development has a saggy feel to it and drags the story down. Instead of being a bit more strict and “faster” it has moments of the nonsense interjected with a memory of a zombie flick. I do love the moments of dark humour and reference to other films, but it lacks discipline.

[@Verity98765]

It's interesting because listening to Mark's description in the first minute it still makes me interested in seeing the film and then I remember how crushingly disappointing watching it was.

[@spaceape9606]

Post 300 every Zack Snyder film has felt 45-60 mins too long in my opinion.

[@moeezS]

A 2.5 hour zombie film and it's pretty surface level, sounds like a pass. Anyway, will check out Girl With All The Gifts.

[@whoisgoobafish9623]

Korean series ‘Kingdom’ on Netflix, is an excellent example of zombies done well

[@TheSnagglebitch]

That series did a really good job of blending Zombies with a political/historical drama. Definitely well worth a watch.

[@DearslayEX]

Hadn't heard of it until I saw this comment, I'm now 3 episodes in and it's great so far thanks 🙂

[@whoisgoobafish9623]

@@DearslayEX no probs! You’re in for a treat

[@skinlesswalnut6259]

@@whoisgoobafish9623 cheers it’s 2am just watched aotd , it was average, so gonna try kingdom tomorrow night now does look good atmosphere

[@CaspABoO]

I wasent convinced on batista as marcus in the gears of war movie but after seeing this i defiantly see why batista go so hard at the studios for being marcus zack brought that out of him in this movie bravo now i cant see no one else but him as marcus

[@optim23]

Train to Busan>Girl with all the gifts

[@AsiaDanceScene]

Korean horror is amazing at the moment. So many great Korean horror movies. Two Sisters, Host etc.

[@wiseguy100]

'Girl with All the Gifts' was a great film, bur let's not fool ourselves into believing it was original.

[@gringochucha]

Maybe a teensy weensy bit original?

[@clyderadcliffe1536]

Or put another way, it plagiarised the last of us (as did the novel). I can only assume that kermode is not a gamer but you'd think somebody would have told him.

[@squirrly001]

There are some good zombie movies... this isn't one of them.

[@felyxmillicent6538]

Snyder is Scorsese compared to Bay.

[@coopslfc22]

I’m currently an hour and a half into it. I really don’t care what happens to these characters. I don’t even remember their names. What a load of garbage.

[@jasonburrows9379]

There were several scenes giving a nod to classic movies like American werewolf in London and Aliens.

[@oliverklar813]

the whole ending was a complete ripoff of Aliens... really terrible.

[@darkman4747]

Nod...or rip-off?

[@oliverklar813]

@@darkman4747 für me it was a Rip-off: - traitor runs away, sealing the escape - traitor dies - child needs rescue from the base of evil creatures - hero asks the pilot to wait for him while he rescues - pilot leaves roof, hero is back - everyone gets away as the nuclear blast gets them

[@victorarielvivatdk65]

They claim it's a "fun" film, but just as Kermode I had absolutely no fun watching it. The execution of the plot is too dumb to demand a mindless fun time from me.

[@euansmith3699]

I imagine that there are some decent 90 minute movies buried within Zack Snyder's filmography. #releasethe90minutecuts

[@mr.smrgol121]

I wonder if Mark realises that The Girl with all the Gifts was an absolutely shameless rip-off The Last of Us?

[@examiningkubrickphilosofia1530]

I love Mark but oversteps his bounds quite a lot. Like with the MCU movies he's utterly lost. I don't like most marvel films but his criticisms are so surface level like here but at least he's honest about his biases

[@RekizFilms]

The Last of Us is one of the most basic stories in the genre, there’s not much to rip off.

[@benallen4986]

I think the short story on which GWATG is based predates TLOU

[@mr.smrgol121]

@@benallen4986 the short story was published in 2013, production began on TLOU in 2009

[@FFF24-7]

Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, 28 Days Later are how to move the genre on. This just looks like a caper film with a zombie theme to me

[@ComandoPadentro]

And that's bad because? I've never seen THAT particular scenario in a film before... Not every movie has to reinvent a genra to be enjoyed.

[@FFF24-7]

@@ComandoPadentro didn't say it was bad. Just commenting it sounds like a caper adventure wrapped up like a zombie film, rather than a zombie film per se. I haven't seen it yet, need to find the time to do that as its quite long. I'm sure I'll get some enjoyment but I doubt it'll do for me what those films I mentioned did when it comes to a zombie film

[@ComandoPadentro]

@@FFF24-7 well, not with that attitude it won't... I preffer to watch a movie ready to see whatever the movie wants to show me instead of expecting it to be what I think it should be. Like I said, not every zombie film has to move the genre on. Just has to be good and entertaining.

[@Hoopla10]

Little Monsters, Pontypool, The Girl With All The Gifts, Hostile, Rec, Train to Busan, Cargo, Here Alone, I am a Hero... not sure about Zombieland moving the genre on tbh (which kind of proves Jose Guzman's point in that it is good and entertaining, though I preferred the much more divisive The Dead Don't Die which obviously highlights subjectivity of what is entertaining). While I agree about this film looking a bit... crap. I don't think "move the genre on" is a particularly good gauge of whether a film is good or even worthy.

[@giovan5219]

@Bloody Pulp this channel caters to people with a low iq

[@bobbyladd]

I found the use of focus with extreme vignette style blurring distracting at times.

[@frankcolumbo3447]

I agree entirely with the assessment here. It looked low budget with a few CGI polishes to give the impression of a big budget. But the sets were poor and it was padded out with unnecessary conversations that undermined any "against the clock" tensions. The only bits of apparent invention were stolen from the likes of American Werewolf and Aliens and even Snyders visual flair was absent. Add to that a downbeat ending- ok for a zombie movie but not for a heist one which needs a level of success- and the whole thing collapses and disappears from the memory. Never a good idea to mix genres as they come with their own conventions which they need to be effective and here neither genre is well served.

[@brooklynbred1460]

So basically if the rich guy simply hired them to get a zombie head and not go inside.... Movie over

[@dpedreno]

Although I think the movie would've been much better if it kept things simple and just stuck to being Ocean's Eleven with Zombies and lots of guns, your suggestion simply ignores the fact that Tanaka would be asking a man who lost his wife, daughter and friends to the zombie epidemic to go back to Vegas and fetch him a zombie head so he could weaponize the virus. Doesn't seem like that movie would go beyond Bautista punching Tanaka in the dinner. For me, the issue with the movie is wanting to have all these threads going. There's no need for any motivation aside from money. We don't need a deep story for everyone in there, we certainly don't need the daughter with a suicidal saviour syndrome. The bodyguard and the Coyote thread is completely pulled out of the movie's ass and when they try to justify how the Coyote would have done that, it falls completely short. That declaration of love near the end (don't remember the chars name) was another joker card pulled out of nowhere. Both the KZbinr and the safe cracker are the ones who fit the best in the movie, the pilot is just annoying.

[@joni1405]

@@dpedreno Why couldn't he hire someone else? If you pay them enough, there are tons of unscrupulous people who would willingly go in to get a zombie head. He didn't need to hire Bautista in the first place

[@petawest6505]

I refuse to believe a zombie head, even an alpha zombie head would be hard to get hold of, especially for the military who could easily fly over and lassoe one to be flown to a medical base, subdued and decapitated.

[@SirGordonJ]

They should get back to the original "living", mind-controlled zombies. Lots of timely narratives to explore there. Flesh eating, living-dead zombies, fast or slow, aren't going anywhere. Although, as I say that, Train to Busan was superb.

[@StryveUK]

I still love the flesh eating undead shambling zombies but doing an "arise and do my bidding" zombie film but set in the present? That would be amazing.

[@StryveUK]

@@skepticalbadger As long as they don't implement control via a phone app! xD

[@SirGordonJ]

@@StryveUK or a vaccination 👍

[@TheRhandolph]

In what universe can you be forbidden to fly INTO a quarantine zone but fine to fly and just go anywhere you want?

[@forcesensitive6371]

I thought it was typical Snyder film, overhyped, no substance and incredibly flawed.

[@elfsieben1450]

Even his much lauded comic book films are hella boring, a dull copy/shorten/paste job that never translates the genius of good and original comic book language into equally good and original cinematic language. Snyder never gives a thought to the difference between these art forms. By default, he just randomly selects scenes, xeroxes 1 panel to 1 frame exactly, then connects the dots in a straight line, and that's about it. Any noob & slave could do that. Whatever gets lost in the transcription, he clearly doesn't care if he notices at all, and sure as hell he won't make up for what is lost by adding anything worthwhile. His films feel like thumbing through a comic book (halfassedly), not like reading one (and being taken in). I'd rather re-read just one chapter of the original works than watch an entire Snyder "adaptation" (he really does not adapt, he just makes flawed copies).

[@Antibackgroundnoise]

Q. What's the best thing about watching Netflix produced movie? A. One doesn't have to put it on pause when going to make a cup of tea 😁

[@cgdimension]

I used to like zombie movies, then we entered the 21st century and I'm so bored of them almost as much as vampires....milked to death or should that be milked to un-death

[@unmorcipan]

What zombie movies did you like so much that aren't from the 21st century?

[@cgdimension]

@@unmorcipan night of the living dead, dawn of the dead, day of the dead, Zombi flesh eaters, the evil dead trilogy, dead alive (aka braindead), return of the living dead. Then there are movies that aren't traditional zombies but are similar like Omega man, night of the creeps and night of the comet....all more entertaining than the vast majority released this century

[@ilosiks12]

$90mil budget... could have spent some of it on the script. Movie was terrible and didn't get to the end. Got too difficult to watch

[@TheTeddingtonBoy]

I started to watch halfway at double speed - Tig character has something going on

[@CanadianBeachcomber]

I watched it this afternoon and thought it was okay but probably will never see it again because once was enough. Also, I couldn’t help remembering Ghosts of Mars and its baddies.

[@JESimsAssociates]

The maneuvering through the dormant zombie sequence in Army of the Dead was a direct rip off from Girl With All The Gifts (Which was a far superior movie). The go into a Zombie infested city to get money is the plot of Train 2 Busan: Penninsula. I could go on and on. It ripped from so many far better movies. smh

[@beanodean4148]

Silent hill movie sneaking past the nurses sequence....rip off or nod

[@JESimsAssociates]

@@beanodean4148 Uh!...forgot about that..since Silent Hill were not zombies guess I did not compare. That was a scary sequence though. Lucky I had on my big boy pants when I saw it.

[@markbrown9183]

'Peninsula' was nowhere near as good as the original 'Train to Busan' but still managed to piss all over 'Army of the Dead' from a death-defying height.

[@acrossbarrier]

Oh the old nemesis- Zack and Mark!!

[@farid1406]

the Moriarty to Mark's Holmes!

[@alex_n8863]

An hour in and I was messing with my phone. Says it all.

[@JasonGiaccone]

I'm surprised Mark didn't mention that the hibernating zombie section was taken directly from Girl with All the Gifts.

[@brianfunt2619]

I thought it was taken from I Am Legend

[@TAKTAK_Toys]

Mark have you seen the TV Series Black Summer on Netflix ? I found that a very interesting zombie style TV series

[@FreeLancerLondon]

Yeah, I watched here in the UK. I thought it was great. Hoping for a season 2!

[@TAKTAK_Toys]

@@FreeLancerLondon season 2 is coming to Netflix 17th June 👍

[@FreeLancerLondon]

@@TAKTAK_Toys Thanks for letting me know. Looking forward to it 👍

[@lukekingsland5851]

It wasn't great, in fairness. Some of the special effects were OK, but Kung Fu breakdancing zombies? And the random cyborg one?

[@patrickvan6038]

hahahah

[@silent-trouble]

Wonder what kermode thought of "one cut of the dead" that was an insanely good and fresh "zombie movie"

[@TheDreadedScotsman]

200 million seemed like such a tiny amount to risk going back into that and then he was only getting 50 million of that to split.

[@ZeppelinBigFan]

At the start of the film I thought for sure that the economy would have tanked on account of the big zombie outbreak, but apparently not.

[@edwardchester1]

Less that it's a tiny amount - if you're flipping burgers it's clearly life-changing - but that it's a monumentally big risk just for money. If anything is going to teach you the value of just enjoying being alive it's an ongoing zombie apocalypse (even if the government is confident they'll be wiped out).

[@TheDreadedScotsman]

@@edwardchester1 well yeah it's life changing but for people who barely escaped the first time and were obviously scarred by it it seems crazy. If they'd had the rich guy say "there's half a billion dollars there you can share it all between you and your team I just need you to grab, some simple thing that only matters to him, something from his son/daughter/late wife etc" it would have made more sense to me, given he was lying about wanting the money anyway.

[@themadafaka6839]

The Girl with All the Gifts is one of my most fave Z movies... 😁

[@vaporwave4880]

There was nothing original about girl with all the gifts.

[@bensquires2819]

@@vaporwave4880 I’m with you, I’d forget all about it till Mark mentioned it.

[@skittles074]

I didn't think much of it, plagiarized "the last of us" if being honest...

[@nickclarkart]

All entrails, no meat. Got it. Not gonna rush to see it.

[@Jaggybabs]

To me the Zombies didn't feel like zombies they felt like people posing. The best part of the movie was Batista.

[@harryspeakup8452]

Girl with All The Gifts is a highly under-rated movie IMO

[@haxan6663]

I agree. Great film.

[@Slaphappy1975]

30 minutes of great action, 30 minutes of stupidity, 1 hour of boredom.

[@GetOutOfMyNoodleShop]

2 hours 15 minutes of boredom, 15 minutes of mindless action.

[@ifstatementifstatement2704]

I like how the guy who betrays them, after getting the queen zombie’s head, he was right next to the place where they entered the compound/city and yet instead of leaving he goes back to the group LOL. Also the girl who fights better than all of them, manages to fight her way back to the group just to have them watch her get killed. They were right there and not a single moron helped. Yet they can all headshot zombies with each shot later on. And the stupidest one: the woman the daughter went in to save is never seen again after she is saved. Like she just disappeared from the movie and a nuclear explosion happens. WTF happened in that movie?!

[@gsa219]

Two cues that I don't think Kermode would ever touch upon which I thought looked massive for the film in promotion. First being Fallout:New Vegas; it just looks like someone thought let's fill a post-apocalyptic Vegas with a massive pile of ghouls and do survival horror/action. Second was the Hardhome episode of Game of Thrones; looked like the *brace yourself* army of the dead surrounding and chasing down the small group of Nights Watch soldiers. Interesting that Kermode brings up a bunch of other pastiches which might be ingredients for a good film rather than a hodgepodge of previous tropes. Three things keeping me from watching: no way a film like this needs to be 150 mins, Mark is right to say 90-100 will suffice; if Dave Batista is the recognisable name on the cast I doubt they're going to have any characters who are too interesting; finally, the gimmick of putting an edgy remixed version of a classic song in the trailer, in this case Kenny Rogers' The Gambler.

[@artwithmichael5547]

What does Mark make of The Walking Dead?

[@arthurdane8508]

Says its a zombie apocalypse. *has news reporters and a private plane charter scene.

[@devilfacedjedi]

I think he summed it up for me when he said it could of been 90 minutes and it would of done the same thing. That was exactly what I thought about this movie. In a strange zombie coincidence i feel the Same about the walking dead in that they could quite easily do what they need to do each season with 10 episodes and not 20.

[@tappman]

at the beginning there was a nod to American werewolf in London

[@rajo741]

The opening credit sequence did it for me....Dreadful and boring. If you’re the type of person who thought the title sequence was great...one of us needs to leave the planet.

[@TheKamilkrawczak]

I had to push myself to watch this sh**. The dumbest movie ever created. Every second is so moronic on so many levels is stunning.

[@colinr0380]

Just from the trailer this seems a lot like a riff on the Dead Rising series of videogames.

[@vultan2000]

I’ve not seen this, not inclined to, but I’ve seen comments online that plot points, scenes and even lines have been copied from Aliens. It sounds like James Cameron’s copyright lawyers need to check out the film.

[@JasonUmbrellabird]

Loved girl With All The Gifts, my neighbour was production designer.

[@JG-hd2fp]

Mark.. You never liked to be force fed. Now I know you don't actually want to take anything away from your films anymore tot hink about after. That's the beauty of this movie. More things to ponder.

[@jpcairney85]

I'm pretty sure, without even seeing this review Mark is going to say it's not that good...

[@farid1406]

Mark tells the truth. The movie wasn't terrible, but it was just so meh. Definitely didn't need $90 million dollars and 150 minutes to tell its forgettable story

[@jpcairney85]

@@farid1406 I have no qualms about his truth telling. However if I can guess what he's going to say with regards to his reviews of movies, that would suggest say he's being far less impartial in relation to these types of action/big budget studio films... Was this good? Is this cinema at its finest? Look, it was fun...

[@Elle-xf8mw]

This movie is unwatchable, Horrible, I suffered the whole time, just finished it because i had to!

[@dougitoonsdesigns]

I enjoyed it on a surface level even though I have not been a zombie film fan since Romero. I think it appeals to zombie fans and Zack fans, but although I love Snyder's version of the DCEU, I won't be re-watching it. That is more of a judgement on my lack of interest in zombies rather than the film-making itself. I don't expect great depth from a zombie movie where the origin of the disease and the fight against the spread of the disease is the main plot point. It had its moments, but I was neither impressed nor disappointed. I will continue to re-watch ZSJL, but, whilst not hating Army of the Dead, I can't recommend it either. I started off expecting you, Mark, to not like this because you're not a Snyder fan; but in this case, I had to agree with your review. I appreciate you trying to be fair rather than totally prejudiced. Thank you.

[@malcolmtucker7981]

The American werewolf "head nod" 7mins in, was as subtle as a blatant headbutt :(

[@themadafaka6839]

He killed the coolest characters way too early in the movie...and saved and made a hero out of the MOST ANNOYINGLY stupid, selfish character in the movie. If they're making a sequel with Zacks till at the helm, they better have one or two legit & good screenwriters. Zack doing the writing part was just the biggest mistake Netflix could've made..and they did. All the dramatic talking scenes felt forced, cliché, misplaced and overlong. They didn't have the dramatic effect that they should. Dawn of the Dead remake's bar none a million times better than this.

[@patrickvan6038]

I hated the fact that stupid daughter survived. Most agree if she died in the end, the movie would be a little more acceptable.

[@carn5haun343]

Not enough exorcist for Mark

[@bhuxtablesmith]

Going to watch it this weekend and looking forward to it. I agree it is hard to do a good zombie flick now. Mark is right about Girl with all the Gifts, it is excellent and I would suggest everyone watch it. Another good one of recent times is Cargo with Martin Freeman.

[@Drinckx2]

Snyder should be contractually forced to not edit any film longer than 90 minutes.

[@andyr0ck]

Girl With All The Gifts did find an audience with me.

[@randyschwaggins]

If Tanaka had told them to get a zombie head for $100m I think it would have been a lot easier...dont really get why he lied about it.

[@AsiaDanceScene]

Mayo calling the child Child 1 made me laugh so hard, it was awesomely awkward

[@guyvizard549]

No one has yet mentioned the opening scene, with it's obvious steal from American Werewolf in London.

[@haxan6663]

I noticed that one as well.